There are various ways you can compare buildings, by their height, architectural designs, or even their histories. However, there is a fairly new way to compare buildings in this era of climate change awareness.
More and more people are considering how eco-friendly or green a building is. Because of this and a lot more reasons, environmental impact is now one of the top considerations when deciding on the design, construction, and operations of buildings today.
In this article, we’re going to look at various eco-friendly buildings around the world and how they use the environment, science, and technology to be more sustainable.
1. Pixel Building – Melbourne, Australia by Decibel Architecture
The Pixel Building is considered the first carbon-neutral building in Australia. This building generates all of its power and water on its own on-site. Also, it has plenty of sustainable features but the standout feature is the eye-catching colorful panels that maximize daylight while also providing shade during the day.
Other eco-friendly features are its roof that captures rainwater, various supports that help process wastewater produced by the building, and even vertical wind turbines for energy.
2. Bahrain World Trade Center 1 and 2 – Bahrain, by Atkins
The Bahrain World Trade Center complex is an incredible piece of architecture that towers at 787 feet. These futuristic towers are specifically designed to take advantage of the desert winds in Bahrain. The buildings feature three turbines that are mounted on the sky bridges between the towers. These turbines are used to generate the tower’s own electricity.
The shape of the tower is also designed to take advantage of the country’s desert winds. Its shape helps funnel the wind towards the turbines which allow it to power about 15% of the building’s total electricity usage. There are also reflective pools located at the tower’s base that help cool it via evaporation.
3. Museum of Tomorrow – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, by Santiago Calatrava
Rio De Janeiro’s Museum of Tomorrow features a very eye-catching cantilevered roof with plenty of reflective pools to help cool down the building from the hot Brazilian weather. The skeletal structure design is an iconic design by the architect Santiago Calatrava.
The sustainable building includes fin-like solar panels that are completely adjustable. It also has a pumping system that retrieves cool water from the bottom of Guanabara Bay and uses that for its air-conditioning system.
The overall design and structure have a very neo-futurist aesthetic to the building, which appeals to a lot of people. People consider The Museum of Tomorrow presents what the future can hold.